Technique · Hooked
Reduce physical effort: fewer taps, less typing
When the body is the bottleneck (a small screen, one hand, on the move), replace typing with autofill, scanning or voice, put targets in reach of the thumb, offer other modes such as audio, and give perishable moments a fast path from the lock screen or a notification.
Plain label: less typing and tappingAlso known as: autofill, voice input, camera scan, thumb zone, gestures, widgets, audio mode
How it works
Every manual input is effort, and it weighs more on a phone, on the go or for people with limited dexterity. Capturing input automatically and putting the action where the hand already is lets the behavior happen at the moment it is needed, like a camera that opens from the lock screen with one swipe.
Evidence warning
Fast paths on a locked device should expose only low-risk actions.
How to build it
- Mobile
- Camera scanning for cards, receipts or documents; swipe actions for the most common choice; a widget for the top task.
- Web
- Autocomplete and saved details in every form.
- E-commerce
- Wallet payments and address lookup.
- B2B
- Keyboard shortcuts and bulk actions for repetitive work.
What can go wrong
- Gesture-only controls with no visible alternative.
- Auto-captured data the user can't correct.
Pairs well with
- Reduce brain cycles on the same screen.
- One-tap repeat for the next time.
Limits
What we don’t claim
- The Hook Model is a practical design tool, not a validated or complete theory of behavior.Hooked, Introduction
Sources
Hooked · Nir Eyal
Ch.3 · Ch.7
Source IDs: HK-ACT08HK-ACT16HK-ACT19HK-ACT39
Book content is paraphrased, never quoted at length. Last verified October 24, 2026.
Your product
Find the stage your product is stuck in
Gamify It reads your product, picks the one move that matters at its stage, and sizes the test to your traffic. Connecting is free; a Pro subscription starts it.